Dear Lifehacker,
I'm planning on doing most of my shopping online this year. The gifts I'm buying are expensive enough; do I have to pay for shipping too? How can I cut down on shipping costs when I shop online?

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Sincerely,
Stingy Shipper

Dear Stingy Shipper,
A lot of popular retailers offer free shipping over the holiday shopping season, but not all of them do. That doesn't mean you always have to pay for shipping when you buy online. Here are some ways to save on those exorbitant shipping costs, and sometimes avoid them completely.

Shop at Amazon Using Amazon Prime and Super Saver Shipping

No discussion of free shipping is complete without mentioning Amazon Prime. $79/year gets you free 2-day shipping on all qualifying purchases from Amazon and Amazon resellers, not to mention its other benefits. Plus, Prime is easy to get if you know someone with it and cheap if you're a student. If you do any Amazon shopping over the holidays, Prime pretty much pays for itself after a few purchases. Even if you tend to wait for the last minute (like I do) the $3.99/item next-day shipping option is much better than overnight if you're not a Prime subscriber.

Sign Up with A Free Shipping Service

If you shop online at multiple sites, you can always sign up for a shipping service. ShopRunner is the most notable of these, and offers free 2-day shipping on all of your purchases from dozens of online and brick-and-mortar retailers, including Newegg, Lord and Taylor, Drugstore.com, Blue Nile, Chefs, Toys R' Us, and more. The service will set you back $79/yr or $9/mo, and comes with a host of other membership benefits. You can also opt to pick up your order from local ShopRunner locations if they're available in your area, and the service offers free shipping on returns too if you don't get what you wanted or something's wrong with your order. The nice thing about going this route is that you get many of the features of a service like Amazon Prime, only across dozens of sites instead of just one.

Search for Retailers Offering Free Shipping or Use Coupon Codes to Make Up Shipping Costs

This is the time of year where free shipping abounds, and there's no better way to make sure you get free shipping and reward retailers that offer it than to speak with your dollars and shop with them. Even if free shipping is only offered for a short period, take advantage of it—if it's successful, the retailer will do it again. You'd be surprised how many online retailers pay close attention to the success or failure of small campaigns like a weekend of free shipping when it comes time to decide whether they should do it again later in the shopping season or next year. If the retailer is a brick-and-mortar retailer and you're shopping online, many sites offer free shipping if you're willing to pick it up at your local store.

Similarly, dig deep for deals and coupon codes, either on some of our favorite deal sites or coupon sites like RetailMeNot, CouponChief, and CouponCodes.com to see if there are active codes for free shipping. FreeShipping.org is a whole site dedicated to free shipping discount codes (even though they've branched out into other coupon codes as well.) Even if there aren't, you may be able to snag a tidy discount on your purchase that'll offset the cost of shipping.

The holiday shopping season is revving up, which means it's time to search for some bargains…
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Finally, keep your eyes peeled for Free Shipping Day, scheduled for December 17th, 2012, where dozens of retailers will offer free shipping on purchases just in time for the holidays. Free Shipping Day is actually the brainchild of the people behind FreeShipping.org, and so far they have over 800 large and small retailers participating in the event, and plan to have over 1,000. Like any "shopping holiday" though, make sure the prices you pay for the things you buy are worth the money, and the retailer hasn't just marked up the items you want to cover their shipping costs. The goal is to save money, after all.

You Can't Avoid All Shipping Fees, But You Can Minimize Them

Many retailers just can't afford to eat shipping costs for their products, even if they're large and well known brands. If it really burns you to pay shipping on your order, call and ask the retailer to waive the cost, or if they can help you out with a discount code or gift card to cover the shipping costs. Online retail is a fiercely competitive business. If you ask nicely and aren't a jerk, the retailer may waive your shipping just to keep your business (or the service rep you speak to may do it just because you're nice and treat them like a human being.)

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Small, independent retailers and craft shops like Etsy are usually run by one or a small group of people, and eating shipping costs means they don't make money and can't stay afloat. You'll get awesome gifts and gear from those shops, but there's little chance you'll get free shipping, even if you ask. Instead, plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of time to get the item sent to you, and choose the most affordable shipping you can trust. That way you get a good deal on a great item, and even if you have to pay a little in shipping, you didn't have to shell out for overnight or expedited.

We hope this helps! Happy shopping, and we hope you find some bargains (and don't pay too much to get them to your door in the process!)